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PUBLISHED .BY SPECIAL ARRAN.EEMENT.
" EBONY
TORSO
COPYRIGHT.
A SUPER-THRILLIEI BY THE AUTHOR
OF "MOUSEBACK"
JOHN C. WOODIWISS
The wide hall was papered in red,
and bright with copper and brass
ornaments of Eastern design which
were suspended by cords froml the
ploturo rails. The old man pottered
in front of ,the visitor anld openedl a
door on the right.
"Like to take off your coat, sir?"
h11 asked, as the detective passed him
and entered the study.
"No 'thanllks," he repllied, gazlng
round at the lines of booklshelves
and tihe big, fumled oak wrltllng-desk
wltil its heavy brass-mounted, wrlt
lng-plad, Oriental pen tray, well
stocked correspollnldelcoholder and
portable typowriter.
The old I1an went over and lpoled
the fire into at blaze.
"Please sit down here and walt,
sir," he said Indticating ia cosy look
ing chair ais he spoke. IHopton lowered
himself into it.
"Very nasty night, sir," went on
AMr. Smith, laking his hal.
"Very," agreed tile detective. "That
fire looks good!"
The' mlan exposed his toothless
gllls in111 a 'l IS lie ollce again put
his hand to his ear.
"I'Ill rather hard of hearing, sir,"
lhe apologlsed. -
"I 1aid, ,the fire look0 good!"
shouted lolLtol.
"Oh, yes sir," 111he old servant
agreed. "I'll go and get the coffee
if you'll excuse me."
He turned 11and made 1lo llen1tly for
the door, but Hopton fhad no inton
tion of letting him1 go without malk
ing 0soll0e attempnlt to get the inforlna
tion he requir'od.
"There's no 'hurry!" he cried in a
voice which pulled the (leaf mall tull
"I wanlt .o talk to you for a? few
minu.tes, Mr. Smitlh."
The old lan Iturned with a scared
look on his face-the look of a
cowed anllial, oand shook his head
slowly.
"Sorry, sir," Ihe reolled In a low
(one. "but the Vicar don't allow m0e
to talk to viasilors. I'd get--well
I'd probably eot the sacl if h1e calnl'
in and caught me (1 ssipilng---s,, if
you'll excuso nlo, ir-'-"
He broke off abrluptly and ended
the sentence whth a little 'hopeless
gesture which drew hback his imlllnacu
lately starched cuffs. To his surprise,
Hopton caught it fleoting gllllpse of
tihe man's wrists and saw that they
were black with bruises. Obviously
Mr. 'Smith was not nearly so senile
and foolish as iho appeared, In an
Instant he had read tile tsuspicious
look on, the detective's face and, awtk
wardly shuffling hiis cuffs down over
thil suggestive mnlarks on hIls armns,
he went out of thie roomL muttlering
to himself.
IHopton sat pondtlering over thlis
new .facet and decided one point
wats quite clear, inamely, that Mr.
SmLth was in terror of hits "tnaster
and tlthat it wouldl be hopeless to
extract tany informaltion frol hint
unless he coutl be got away from
the Vicarage. He had Just reached
tills conclusion when the telephone
on the desk began Ito rilng. Hopton
heestated, but remembered .that tthe
olt servant was pIrobably too deaof to
hear the bell and 'then, itroml)ted by
at sudden overmasterlhg tellmptation,
rose alld puat the receiver 'to Ills ar'.
Hardly had he done so when a thick,
guttural voice beogan to splteak.
"Thatt yoll, Vicar?"
"Yes," repllled the detective, leign
intag aleshourne's voice as nearly ats
ihe could.
SHis reply was followed by a sllort
pause, as if the caller was suspici
ous, before his voice begtan again Itn
a queer streaml of forolgn-sounding
words:
"K(I nowlla, dlessila (delita rtabatn,
I1 dowcot. Wass jtsitua?"
The rising tInflection on 'the last
word assured Hopton thiat tthe other
had 'lpu't a question.
!111m," he repllied, mulfflinlg hi
voice as much ats possibtle.
T'ihe person at tile other end wait
od before hie aogat again,
"Wass dseesnita dowcos Holton?"
The detective started involuntarlly
as he lheard Is tLname. 'rlte follow
was ltaltking 'l IIt pire-arranged codol
Whatever the cost, he must try to
discover its Illntlllllg.
"It's quite safe," ho said, pringlling
with exlctement. "Tihs line's iad to
nlight-I can scarcely 'hear you, Re
pIeat your 'nMessage In Ingllsh."
The only reply. was a grunt of
fur'y from the other end:
"Wass l]astal! I" and the receiver
was crashoed down.
"Curso!!l" muttered H-Ioplton andll
was about to return to llis chair
when a sarcastic voice began to speakl
bohind him.
"'rritatling things, these phonos,
Inspector. So ltltnd of you to answer
it during lily absoticel"
Hopton whotled-round to find the
Rov. Charles OGalesiourtno standing
before the fire, ta smlle wreathling
his mouth as he olbsorved lthe other's
discofa f ture.
CHAPTIIER V.
NIAItROW ESCAPII
Cool as Hoplton wae, It took iln
extrome offort of Will power to ptro
vent hil boetraying ,hinmself at thalt
momenlt; but somehow he managed
to replace thes.rceiver with tile non
chalant air of complete Innontente.
"Ah, I didn't hear yotu comeo in,
sIr,"'lio said good llllouredly, "l'Pity
you woren't hero a minullte sooner';
I'm afraid the lpersonl who wanted
you has rulng off."
"What a nluIsanco!t" commenoted
the padro in a sarcastic tott, "WVno't
you ilt dlown, Inpelctor, and11 enjoy
the fire?"
"Thanks," replied tihe dotective,
"I didn't quite know whart to ?do
when your phone sarted to ring,
Your servant is so dtoif, Isn't ho?"
"Yes, thle poor follow's very af
flictetl," agreeod tOlesbourne, iLtting
opposite his guest and fixing It pai'
of largo brown eyes on 111a fnee In
a aiost dlsconcerting mannoer; "still,
deafness Is sometimes an asset in a
servant. That soundtui.lnkind, biut
I hate people about Itlo who IlIten
to everything and carry onl It sort
of domestic espionage, 1ilt li'm for
getting; who was -the caller just
now?"
An anxious look had coamo into hle
eyes holying the calmnass with which
ts asked the qluestion.,
"I'm nfraid I can't tell you, sir,"
replied the inspector truthfully. "lt
was a lman speaking ii at foreign,
langualge" '
"In a foreign lanllguage? Now r
'wonder who that could have been?'"
Iondered the Vicar, lowering his chil
and gazing pensively at the carpet.
"You couldn't tell nle if he was
speakinlllg in French or German, by
any chance?"
"Now, sir," answered Hopton bold
ly. "It was no language I've ever
heard. It sounded like a code of sonime
sort."
"A code? ]low very odd, Inspec
tor!"
Tile pairson looked iip sharply
againi s lie spoke. BUt, after i pause
hle tbegan to chuckle.
"I think I know who It was," ho
said. "One of ily younllg iiien playiLng
a Iractical jokbe, no doubt. Dear ime,
that's rather funny to thlnlt he got
the wrong person," aind lie beglin i(i
laugh il a Idry, Ilrthless mnanner,
which was an obvious pretence.
"As long as It was notlhling import
ant I don't feel so guilty, sir," Hop
ton returned.
"Guilty? IBut w hy should you feel
guilty, mly dear sir? You did tilhe
olliy thing piossible inl the circuin
stances. W\e've nothing to hide here,
I assure ypo."
The lasta sentence was said almlost
ill 'the manner of a challenge, but
the wily detective was for too cun
ning to notice it.
"A., well. sir, 'an honest heart'.s
wortlh a IKing's ranlsom,' " he quoted
with a grin.
"That's true," agreed his host
cordially. "And you couldn't ullder
taind a sin gle word of this mumbo
Jumlbo, of course?"
"I think it woul ble Ia clever milan
who could," Hopton assulred him. "I
never heardl such a lot of gibberish,"
. aOleshourne leanlt back and burst
Into a genuine peal of laughter, In
which the detective Ilnagined he could
trace a note of intense relief.
"I hope you Ina'de Smilth, .by ser
v'ant, lundersi'tad who youi were witlh
out too munch trouble, inlspector. Thllo
poor old chap doesn't mean to ibe
difficult, of course, but his deafness
instkes him rather troublesome at
times. liiiU really very attached to
the old boy, and put up with him
fronm motives of charity. lie has anl
ilveterate horror of spncllding the
rest of his dtays in tile workhouse
infirmluary."
The show of kindness was a.
thought overdone, nd quinlte failed
to deceive Holpton's experienced
knowledge of psychology, but he de
ciled to play the Ipadre at his own
ga.in e
"Very good of you, I'in sure, sir,"
lie leplltedl I it carefully camouflaged
tone of collamendlflon.
"The trouble 'with Smith Is, hant
lie will chatter if he gets half a
chance," wenllt on the Vicar, "I hope
lie dliln't attempt to-or-entertain
you with i lot of ills small talk?"
Th're note of suspicion had crept
b'acl Into his voice, and, dnstantly,
Hopton was saware that the query
nieanllt far more to thile questioner
than he would have thought.
"Oh, no, sir'," hi replied with a
smile. "Oil the contrary, I thought
him a bit short. I couldn't get more
than a tlozen words out of hinm."
"l'm dellghtel to hear It," nodded
the Vlcllr approvingly. "Recently I
was obliged to speia to hhn very
fordibly ion ti subject-that is, its
forcibly as one could speak to a nian
of Ills advanced age, you'll under
tnand, inspector; and I'in glad to
hear my remnarks have borne fruit."
GAllESIlO11tRNlE'S DARING
"Well, you neednl't worry about
that, sir'," the detective assured 111n,
drawnltlg ii mental picture ais hle poko
of the ,black weals on the trembling
wrists,
"Good!t-goodtl" chuckled tile
paldre, taknllg down ia box of Egyptian
cirgaretto from the lmantelpiece.
"You'll smnoke, won't you, Inspector?"
"lRllpe smoker If you don't mind,
sir," answered lHopton, taking his
pipe flnd to.lbacco pouch from Ills
pocket. "I never lilte cigarettes, par
ticularly legypttains."
",ust as 3'011 Ilease, mily dear sir,
Light up iy all means. I'll tell you
a secrol; I really keep these Egyp
tian cigarettes for illy yolung lmen,
ialthough I must almint that I enjoy
smnoltking theml myself now and again.
Puts tile boys at thlpr ease if thle vicar
ass them h to have a cigarette, I fliild,
nlld stops 'einm snolling oil the sly.
You'll excuse Ime If 1 put ol1 ,nly
slippolra', won't you? Mly boots are
rathler dlamp, and I catch ita chill so
easlly."
"Certainly, sir," greeoo the ddetec
tlve, lighting upi wlhle 'his host re.
placedl the 'box anll nilo a change
in his fooetwear,
To he tontinueu.
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